Wanna trade?
(Page 3 of 3)
February/March 1992
By Don Green
SEEING MY SUCCESS, MY NEIGHBOR now leads a similar life on 15 acres. He's proof that an average family can do it on as little as two or three acres by planting "cash" crops. An acre of produce and a half-acre of fruit can provide a family with enough left over from their own use to barter for a great deal of the other necessities.
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Strawberries are a favorite fruit of everyone and are easily bartered. A quarter-acre of strawberries and a quarter-acre of varied fruit trees (peaches work well) can be readily traded for other foodstuffs or small services with neighbors in an urban or rural area. For instance, a case of strawberries (eight quarts) can be bartered for the labor of a mechanically inclined neighbor who could do a tune-up or oil change (parts provided by you, of course), or perhaps sharpen those lawn-mower and knife blades.
Good types of produce to barter are cucumbers (for pickling), tomatoes (in quantities for canning), green peppers, and beans. Homegrown melons have a special appeal over those flavorless, commercially grown, shipped-in types.
Services can be bartered also, especially in urban areas. If you have a particular specialty, skill, or hobby, it could prove extremely barterable. A woman might barter her culinary or sewing skills for babysitting or hairdressing services. A man may barter his woodworking skills for produce or other services. The things that can be bartered are endless. All it takes to become successful are imagination and effort.
On a larger scale, trade systems can be established in neighborhoods and rural areas to the benefit of all involved (the monetary savings will of course depend on how much and what you barter). I have found, however, that the quality of services and goods that I have bartered for have been, on the whole, better than those commercially purchased. And with the demand for fresh produce, you'll find that most people will readily barter at a higher value in trade than they would pay cash for at the supermarket because of the assured quality of homegrown.
You will of course run into barters that won't work out as well as you would like. I once bartered to have my wood supply cut for the winter from my woodlot by a man who would receive one truckload of wood for every one he cut for me. He gave out in less than a week. One lady traded me a pie in return for strawberries for her own pies. It was the worst pie I ever had the misfortune to try to eat. So, a word of caution: Watch what you bargain for—you might get it!
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